When I Rose From The Catacombs
by The Princess of Pain
Summary: Just a S1E14 AU if Katherine wasn't a manipulative bitch, was actually was in the tomb, and loved Damon when the tomb was opened. (A revamp of Tomb-Bound.)
1. Liberation

Chapter 1: Liberation

Disclaimer: Not mine, just borrowing!

Katherine wakes up to the sweet smell of blood. It's been so long. She knows she's in a stasis of sorts, one that's caused by blood deprivation. She wonders how long it's been since she was locked below the church. A hundred years, a thousand maybe? Maybe it has only been a few days, but it feels like eternity. She's so **thirsty.** She misses Damon. She was so stupid to believe she was in love with Stefan. It had taken years for her starving mind to realize Stefan was just a cheap comparison to Damon. Sometimes if she thinks hard enough, she can believe she hears his distorted voice calling out for her.

"Katherine! Katherine?" He always called out in her imagination. She never responded to him. Her Damon was dead, gunned down by his own father. The man calling out for her was merely an illusion, one brought on by lack of blood. It disgusted her that she looked forward to hearing his voice

Her thoughts were suddenly cut off by the sound of stone moving. The…entrance? She can see a small amount of light from her position. Who would ever want to come in here, with hungry vampires? A female voice.

"He needs leverage. "she said, her voice eerily familiar. It, it almost sounded like her voice. Words she couldn't hear. She's so weak, and so very hungry. Katherine wonders if a hallucination can be sustenance. She wonders if her mind got tired of using only Damon and decided to do a new trick.

A male voice, this one familiar in a way that made her heart ache, "May I?" and then the sound of something being lifted. Sudden light everywhere, making her wish she could move her arms so she could shield her face. It was beautiful in a way and Katherine wondered if she was finally dying.

"What is that?" the female (a human female, Katherine can hear the blood rushing in her veins) asks.

"They can sense you. Now, where is she?" The man responded, and Katherine's heart fluttered. That voice…Damon? Her heart flutters but she resists the urge to cry out. She's hallucinating again, she tells herself. Damon is dead and using what is left of her strength on a mirage would do no good. She tunes out of the conversation until she hears another familiar voice, one she has never imagined before.

"Elena?" It says, but her heart hurts because even though that's not her name that's Stefan's voice, and it's like a floodgate has opened. The Girl-Elena- breathing, Damon's rage, Stefan's desperation she can hear it all. Is this real? They really came for her? She swallows dryly and tries to call out, but the words won't rise from her parched throat.

"SHE'S NOT HERE!" Damon screamed and threw something against a wall. It smells like blood, but Katherine can't even care because this is real, they came for her. Damon came for her. She hears Stefan explain the tomb is going to close and panic fills her. She can't do this, not again.

So, she uses all her energy to say one word," Damon…"

Damon cocks his head and ignores Elena's pleas to leave the tomb as he hears a whisper he would have missed if he wasn't a vampire. "Damon…" The voice-so different from Elena (How could he have ever compared them to each other) calls. His heart stops.

"Katherine?" He calls out experimentally, not daring to hope.

A soft sigh then, "Damon…"

He pushes Stefan and Elena away from him, following his beloved's voice till he comes to a woman wearing a familiar dress with her face in the shadows. Slowly, he swallowed and pulled her face towards the light. He can't describe the joy he feels when he sees her ashen face. "Katherine." He spoke softly, and she had never looked so beautiful as he cupped her face in his hands. She leaned into the caress weakly muttering.

"You aren't dead." She said, her voice a mere whisper, and Damon's heart broke a little more. Had she sat in this tomb for all this thinking he and Stefan were dead?

Damon shushed her softly and lifted her. "I'm not. It's okay Katherine, you're safe." He cooed in her ear. Though she was heavily desiccated, her eyes were still sharp, and they took in Stefan with a twitch of her lips. Stefan looked shocked to see her, and Damon hated him for that. He had thought that she hadn't been in here, in pain for 145 years?

"Damon, who is that?" Elena asked, and Damon watched as Katherine's eyes widened and she tried to get away from him. Damon held her tighter and moved so her hair was covering his face.

"What is it, Katherine?" He asked her, his voice soft in her ear.

A hand pressed softly to his cheek and Katherine looked at him and Stefan, her eyes not quite looked at Elena, instead somewhere Damon couldn't follow as she answered, "Doppelgänger."

Her words broke off and her head lulled back suddenly. Damon made sure she was secure in his arms before turning to Stefan and Elena. He said nothing, but merely nodded his head to Stefan before flashing out of view. Elena turned to Stefan in confusion, only to see the ghost of a smile on his face. _Maybe, I finally have my brother back._ Stefan thought, his mind full of old memories.

"Stefan?" Elena asked, reaching out to touch him. Stefan shook his head, dispelling the thoughts before grabbing her and zooming out of the tomb.

 _A/N: What's up? I hope you enjoyed the revamped version of Tomb-Bound. I'm sure you guys are wondering why I touched this. Well, I have another chapter planned, and a chapter after that. I hope Katherine isn't too OOC, but keep in mind she isn't quite the manipulative bitch we all and love. Please let me know what you thought, I appreciate feedback!_

 _I am, therefore I spread,_

 _Pain_


	2. When You Cleansed My Body and My Soul

Damon rushed into the house, Katherine's body in his hands. He set her gently on the couch and pulled it closer to the fire before rushing down to the basement, hurriedly unlocking the fridge and grabbing a good amount of blood bags before hastening back upstairs. She hadn't moved at all, and in the light from the fire she looked dead. He opened the blood bag and pressed it against her lips before starting to squeeze. For a few moments blood dribbled from her mouth, before she shot up with a gasp and started to take heavy gulps from the bag.

Damon watched as red bled into her eyes and her fangs elongated. She tore through the bag before reaching for another one and he pointed out the straw and demonstrated how to use it before letting her try. She gave him an annoyed look before mimicking him, pursing her lips over the straw before taking slow, measured sips. He watched as the grey in her skin faded away to pale skin, her eyes no longer pitch black and her lips turning from pale blue to the red he loved. He let her drain 3 more blood bag's before gently pulling her away from them. She pouted but stood and allowed him to help her to his bedroom.

He helped her sit on the bed, before going and drawing her water so she could get cleaned up. "You're drawing me a bath?" Katherine questioned, reaching up and touching her throat when her voice came out hoarse. Damon nodded before moving back and lifting her up. He helped her unbutton her dress and set her gently in the tub before starting to rub the grime off her. She was covered in cobwebs, and as he raised his hands to her ratty hair he grimaced at the amount of dead (and living) spiders in there. Dust fell off her skin, and Damon thought she looked like an old relic, lost and forgotten in time. _To everyone but me,_ He thought with a frown.

What would have happened had he listened to Elena and left? Would she have rotted away, slowly and painfully? Or would she have stayed there, weak and wondering if what she saw was a hallucination. He had been through blood withdrawal before. He knew what it did to a person. Had he given up on her, she would have stayed there forever. Katherine seemed to sense his thoughts though. She looked up at him, knitting her brows.

"Damon? Is something wrong?" She asked, tilting her head (Elena doesn't do that, A tiny voice in his head told him) and twisting to look at him. He dismissed the thought before smiling down at her reassuringly.

"Everything is fine. I'm just happy you're here." He told her. She had to know that.

Katherine smiled softly at him.

"I'm happy to, Damon. For years this was merely a dream, a hallucination." He reached out and pressed a hand to her cheek. A silent reassurance that he was there and real. She gave him another smile before letting him rinse out her hair. Lifting her from the tub he dried her body, ignoring his body's reaction to seeing her naked. Her skin glowed, no longer grimy and she smiled at him as he set her on the bed. He handed her a pair of boxers and a shirt before going into the bathroom to grab the hairdryer, sneering at the dress she had worn (later he'd have to burn that).

She was asleep by the time he came back. Smiling softly, he set down the hairdryer to put her under the covers. He set in on his dresser before turning off the light and joining her. Wrapping his arms around her Damon inhaled Katherine's unique scent of lemongrass and honey and bit back a grin. Even after all these years, she still smelled the same.

"Welcome home, Katherine." Damon said quietly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Closing his eyes, he fell asleep to her even breaths.


End file.
